A Reflection after My Second Visit to Libre Farm
When David found out that I wanted to learn more about growing food naturally he kindly invited me to visit his farm. Nestled at the foot of the curvy Ko’olau Mountains in a lush plain of Waimanalo, suddenly I feel very small yet at the same time very connected to everything that came before me. The breathtaking nature that surrounds the farm puts me in a place of smallness, at a time when life was more innocent. Suddenly, I feel like a child marveling at Nature’s majesty: Butterflies, bees, and tropical breezes! I truly have no idea what I am doing. David teaches me. I lovingly press a finger into the rich soil to make room for a tiny seed that soon will grow into a plant with more seeds. The purple beetles and orange worms living underground now have company! I kneel on the ground, get up, kneel, squat, and get up again. The clouds roll by. The golden, sun hemp flowers dance in the wind. The neighbor-farmer and his wife lovingly play with their granddaughter. A tractor driver smiles, and waves, on his way to till somewhere nearby. One small drop of water drips out of a small hole in a black hose into the ground, it’s like a diamond glittering in the sun. I pick up the empty hay bucket, turn it around and imitate the beat of my heart. The drive along the coast is just as impressive on the way there as it is on the way back. The spectacle of the ocean rising and falling, crashing against the rocky cliffs is like getting a high five from Mother Earth. “Mahalo” she says! At Libre Farms joy happens at every moment. To farm with David and his partner Justine is to grow in love. Whoever is so lucky to eat this food will also grow in love. Thank you for inviting me to be a part of your mission. I am honored and humbled. It’s been a super healing and very educational experience! Mahalo nui loa Libre Farm! "Reality has once again thrown its wrench into ideals and dreams of what a farm would be....."10/21/2014 Its 6:30am on a Saturday morning, my body is making excuses and my rational mind is agreeing but dammit I said I would farm today and i'm going to f*cking farm. A very good question is why? well besides the ever driving curiosity my German blood wants to see how the farming is done and to apply efficiency. I've lived on a farm in the big island and have experience with growing things besides the usual theoretical knowledge gained from reading and being a huge nerd. I have no fantasies about how farming really is, the ground does not break itself and there's a goddamn reason those giant farming combines are in such high demand. I do however have limited experience with small scale industrial farming--that is farming to produce food for more then your own consumption. The problems and possible solutions are absolutely titillating to an engineering geared mind, images of the roman aqueducts come into mind. The reality, What the fuck is this shit? its a buncha goddamn weeds! Jesus apparently all plants look like weeds when they first start growing. What I most likely glazed over during the explanation is that this farm is actually a plot to help students learn about farming hence it is clearly not geared towards growing large quantities of food for industrial purposes. Reality has once again throw its wrench into ideals and dreams of what a farm would be. Once I got used to it and actually started to get familiar with the design and layout it wasn't that bad! Farming without giant machines and poisons is apparently very primitive haha, stick seeds into a hole and kill all opposing seeds but the seeds you want. The problem is goddamn nature, the ground is absurdly healthy and swarming with literally thousands of insects and the weeds are literally everywhere. Identifying the plants you want is rather hard because a green rage settles over you and you just want to kill anything that looks like a weed. Farming is rather easy once you get used to it, a single man could easily handle that entire plot if he were to administer to it daily. In the end i'm outside learning important skills about growing my own food in case things get bad or I suddenly become rich and can afford land and the free time to administer it and I normally would be unconscious in my bed anyhow. I laughingly sung this song to myself while weeding the cucumbers nimbly avoiding the red ants that were broiling out of the holes the weeds left. I ain't gonna work on libre farm no more,
Where they say be ready by 7:15, But they come at 8! They say theres plants a-growing, But i see nothing but fucking weeds! I ain't gonna work on libre farm no more! See you on the farm every saturday! Finally made it out to the famous Punaluu training farm! Helped Dan give Chris's kale, collards, chard, basil, flowers, spiders, and sole lettuce head some space. Dan starts his plots with a sunhemp cover crop, mows it down, then just throws out seeds at random and let's nature decide spacing and germination. Kind of. Things are going to get pretty radical and revolutionary up here pretty soon!! You really can't have a conversation with this guy without it changing your life.
I work with Marcos on a partnership between Hawaii B-cycle and KVIBE and finally got to hear more about the raised beds he set up in front of the warehouse to get the kids curious and exposed to growing food.
Gloricidia full of nitrogen for compost and mulch
6 acres Kathy and mark woofers and volunteers. Former sugar land, tilled plastic ground over into the ground instead of cleaning up Chaya calciumz stick in the ground and water Make own organic sugarcane syrup Kallords Temp goes up to 160 degrees, leave for 4-5 months Castle and cook, puleana lots smaller, 3 years commercial farming qualify for a USDA .... Small farmer grant 200$ .5% interest. Business plan matching funds "More guts than knowledge " YMCA boys and girls club high school. Pomona research Hydro and aquaponics Sun hemp flowers have own pest butterfly eggs good for wasps?? Trickledama will watch out for bad pests... Doesn't totally eliminate. Buckwheat too, 3 weeks to flower. Wasp collecting box to attract pollinators. Reflective mulches to reduce pesticide spray. Onion has trips problem, metallic bark reduces, buckwheat when it is flowering. Timing of cover crop with plant is important and what pests. Book Chou has caterpillar pests. Metallic mulch is only for thrips. Insectary plants decrease pets, yield didn't increase, but less damage Bt can be used on aqua phonics Metallic mulch is not food safety certifiable... Dow blueboard is porous ... Can use for organic but not food safety Untreated plywood painted with latex??? Doesn't touch water Tea.. Develop new methods for new crops for new market for farmers. Tea is new crop House cloth to protect against fruitfly.... 2k or sheet cover, but can only do for crops that don't need pollinate partinapartik?? Hope more fruit fly damage will happen to outside trial to make this process cost effective... Method for organic no need for pesticides Plowed and rotivated to soften soil, then 1 crazy man 2 days, but prob 2 guys 2 days Direct plant makeshift cover. Plant machines!!! Transplants time and money. Walkways between crops good idea. Certain varieties can reduce pests Air ventilation is not so good, soothe fungal growth on inside. White fly thrips and aphids bring virus to tomatoes. Organic and vine ripened premium will cover costs... Otherwise mine as well spray pesticide... Can only spray twice a year though. Splatmat for fruit flies... C and c have to treat lights... Spinocide organi apporoved, put a gel on the lights Netting was chosen, go farms bringing in from china. Ho farms sells to brewers, white netting finest mesh could get Seeded two weeks ago!!! Harvesting every two days at least for 3 weeks. Some varieties keep going but drop in production. 5 to 10 lbs per plant depending if you're counting rotten or too big. Some over mature (zucchini) small acre go to farmers market direct market organic.. Otherwise not worth doing fruiting vegetables. Big buyers won't buy if price too high, dont care how it tastes cheaper to get from ca. Water every two days for so many hours. Start fruitfly program weeks before your plants to decrease population Two bt strain tkaztaki sentari ... Rotate the two to try not built resistance . Spray chemicals has to be Ag soap... EPA has to approve for commercial.. Washington state dept of ag and omry approve for organic use A lot of people are not heronf certified... $1k a year... Exemptions in organic certification... "bottom line wash your fruits and begetables tea gets sulfur treatment. Acidic lovig soil... Kunia they are trying to interest farmers. Sulfate fertilizer makes the soil more acidic. Per plant 1k pounds of sulfur to bring down one point 1 point ph difference you see growth damage!!! 4 on good side 5 on good side... Have to Harvest 4 times yor product. 4lb for 1lb. $400 -$2k lb for Hawaii grown tea. Ono is $85/lb. Consistent prosessing for consistent taste and quality. Farmers process high end, sell rest to processes for lower quality tea Same plant material for all yes but varieties depend on oxidation, how you process it how long you leave it on there. Black tea most oxidized leave for 24 hours . Green te just roll and stick in oven Can't harvest for three years or twofor full harvest Peaches blueberries... Search for crops by climate and humidity, day length. Ph ad nutrients they can work with. Plums!!! Innovators early adopters and the rest... Innovators already doing it. Dry land taro here Yates horrible. High metal iron ad manganese right bacteria not much organic matter. Breed catfish for aqua phonics Cut out female eggs cut off testicals, need hormone to fertilize, have totakeclass for permission for hormone. Water activates it. Talaria easier but catfish don't have to irrational. Cinders don't have to chane out. Electricity hog!!! Not practical without alternative energy Hydro... Still need bio filter to covert organic material to... Nitrogen? Air gas exchange. Ebb and flow for cinder. Kunia farm Mary's garden, and a third, commercial farmers. Potato bag!!!! One potato in, so many come out. Hokulea need Greg veggies maybe hydroponics, using bugs and micro green bed solar panel on boat for ledlighht. Working on systems for fresh veggies!!! Refill water and fertilizer static system 4 deprecate boards harvest one each week 11 heads of lettuce. SoluBle fertilizers Moranga 10 percent oil good cooking oil smells like peanuts insanely long shelf life use to use as machine oil Blueberries take a grating to make new plant after 3 years, new tissue new life, but can be patient. Pomona research Hydro and aquaponics Sun hemp flowers have own pest butterfly eggs good for wasps?? Trickledama will watch out for bad pests... Doesn't totally eliminate. Buckwheat too, 3 weeks to flower. Wasp collecting box to attract pollinators. Reflective mulches to reduce pesticide spray. Onion has trips problem, metallic bark reduces, buckwheat when it is flowering. Timing of cover crop with plant is important and what pests. Book Chou has caterpillar pests. Metallic mulch is only for thrips. Insectary plants decrease pets, yield didn't increase, but less damage Bt can be used on aqua phonics Metallic mulch is not food safety certifiable... Dow blueboard is porous ... Can use for organic but not food safety Untreated plywood painted with latex??? Doesn't touch water Tea.. Develop new methods for new crops for new market for farmers. Tea is new crop House cloth to protect against fruitfly.... 2k or sheet cover, but can only do for crops that don't need pollinate partinapartik?? Hope more fruit fly damage will happen to outside trial to make this process cost effective... Method for organic no need for pesticides Plowed and rotivated to soften soil, then 1 crazy man 2 days, but prob 2 guys 2 days Direct plant makeshift cover. Plant machines!!! Transplants time and money. Walkways between crops good idea. Certain varieties can reduce pests Air ventilation is not so good, soothe fungal growth on inside. White fly thrips and aphids bring virus to tomatoes. Organic and vine ripened premium will cover costs... Otherwise mine as well spray pesticide... Can only spray twice a year though. Splatmat for fruit flies... C and c have to treat lights... Spinocide organi apporoved, put a gel on the lights Netting was chosen, go farms bringing in from china. Ho farms sells to brewers, white netting finest mesh could get Seeded two weeks ago!!! Harvesting every two days at least for 3 weeks. Some varieties keep going but drop in production. 5 to 10 lbs per plant depending if you're counting rotten or too big. Some over mature (zucchini) small acre go to farmers market direct market organic.. Otherwise not worth doing fruiting vegetables. Big buyers won't buy if price too high, dont care how it tastes cheaper to get from ca. Water every two days for so many hours. Start fruitfly program weeks before your plants to decrease population Two bt strain tkaztaki sentari ... Rotate the two to try not built resistance . Spray chemicals has to be Ag soap... EPA has to approve for commercial.. Washington state dept of ag and omry approve for organic use A lot of people are not heronf certified... $1k a year... Exemptions in organic certification... "bottom line wash your fruits and begetables tea gets sulfur treatment. Acidic lovig soil... Kunia they are trying to interest farmers. Sulfate fertilizer makes the soil more acidic. Per plant 1k pounds of sulfur to bring down one point 1 point ph difference you see growth damage!!! 4 on good side 5 on good side... Have to Harvest 4 times yor product. 4lb for 1lb. $400 -$2k lb for Hawaii grown tea. Ono is $85/lb. Consistent prosessing for consistent taste and quality. Farmers process high end, sell rest to processes for lower quality tea Same plant material for all yes but varieties depend on oxidation, how you process it how long you leave it on there. Black tea most oxidized leave for 24 hours . Green te just roll and stick in oven Can't harvest for three years or twofor full harvest Peaches blueberries... Search for crops by climate and humidity, day length. Ph ad nutrients they can work with. Plums!!! Innovators early adopters and the rest... Innovators already doing it. Dry land taro here Yates horrible. High metal iron ad manganese right bacteria not much organic matter. Breed catfish for aqua phonics Cut out female eggs cut off testicals, need hormone to fertilize, have totakeclass for permission for hormone. Water activates it. Talaria easier but catfish don't have to irrational. Cinders don't have to chane out. Electricity hog!!! Not practical without alternative energy Hydro... Still need bio filter to covert organic material to... Nitrogen? Air gas exchange. Ebb and flow for cinder. Kunia farm Mary's garden, and a third, commercial farmers. Potato bag!!!! One potato in, so many come out. Hokulea need Greg veggies maybe hydroponics, using bugs and micro green bed solar panel on boat for ledlighht. Working on systems for fresh veggies!!! Refill water and fertilizer static system 4 deprecate boards harvest one each week 11 heads of lettuce. SoluBle fertilizers We haven't made it to Ag School yet but I've already picked up on some subtle hints from our teacher Dan as to what makes a successful business plan: Flannel/plaid shirts.
First GoFarm AgXposure filed trip. Much larger farm and operation than I am used to visiting, and a noticeably different perspective on the profession and lifestyle than the smaller farmers I'm used to hanging with.
We spent the day helping out by lugging buckets of chemical fertilizer to sprinkle on the banana trees. The we got to spend awhile chatting with the head guy.
The Oyamas and I returned to Ted's the next Saturday and this time Jessica and her husband joined as well as Dave and Annie.
Our task today was to clear the overgrown weeds from the row of taro we planted in last week. As in, hack at this shit with a pick ax. Lucky for me there were only 3 axes so I took a hand pick to the more managable weeds surrounding the plants, which is challenging in it's own right because of how small and hidden some of these plants were among the weeds. Long beans and okra are also growing intermittenly throughout the taro and can be viney.... JUST LIKE SOME OF THE WEEDS WE'RE PULLING. Arghgmanmnamn. I am learning more and more to be conscious of the time and energy it takes for a farmer to manage and educate volunteers. Despite having the best intentions we can sometimes plant a seed too deep or too shallow resulting in no sprouting, or we can pull out the very plant we are trying to save from the weeds. Does the good balance out with the mistakes if some tasks get done 7 x as fast than it would have without the volunteers?? Well, Ted hasn't asked us not to come back yet! |
WordsIt's rad to see the variety of experiences people have on the farms and the various ways their perceptions are altered and their mind opened. There's always a unique dynamic of people and experiences so different issues come up depending on the group or the work that we're given. Archives
November 2014
Categories
All
|